Forest's Heart (The Ninja Way)
by Willow0Angel
Summary: A nomad with no affiliation to any of the countless ninja villages scattered around the world is brought into Konoha, after running her whole life. But her connection to trees - is it Wood Style jutsu or something else? Another book in the Ninja Way series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey y'all! Morllyber is BACK with another Naruto fanfiction for the AWESOME Ninja Way series! Yup, I love writing these things.**

**Just to recap, here are all the books in the series so far:**

**By MOI, MorllyberNo.1:**

**~The Blue Spiral**

**~The New Girl**

**~Have Faith**

**~Forest's Heart**

**By Gaara's Babe (on Movellas):**

**~To Kill an Uchiha**

**~The Demon Doll**

**~Fighting the Elements**

**Soooooooooooo I – I mean WE – hope you like 'em all!**

**Luving you all, Morllyber signing out – peace out dudes!**

**PS: Do they have handcuffs in Naruto world…?**

A group of Anbu Black Ops from the Hidden Leaf village surrounded a young girl. She had shoulder-length chocolate brown hair in a messy bob cut and matching eyes. She was meditating under a large birch tree, and looked perfectly calm despite having five armed ninja surrounding her.

"Don't move!" Yelled one of the men.

The girl looked towards the one who spoke. "What have I done?" she asked. Her voice was high and sing-song, like bells.

"What?"

"What did I do to you that made you come after me?" she asked again.

"This isn't personal." They closed in so that they were but a meter from her. "We're here to take you to the Leaf, Hokage's orders."

"Okay then." The girl stood up and brushed herself off. She was wearing a long-sleeved light grey dress with bare feet. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face and nodded.

One of the men shoved her shoulder slightly and she retaliated. She swung her forearm up and a branch from the birch tree wrapped itself around his wrist.

"Don't touch me." She said dangerously. Her voice had lost its dreamy state and now sounded mean. The ninja, meanwhile, were now battle-ready, kunai in hand and in fighting stances. Their masks seemed even more frightening than usual. Silence fell and all was still, until the girl lowered her arm and the tree branch returned to its original position.

"What just happened?" One man asked his neighbor.

"I don't know," he replied, "but that was freaky."

Then the girl took a step forward and they all reacted. Two men stood in front, kunai at the ready, while two more grabbed hold of her shoulders and forced her to her knees. The last one clapped shining silver handcuffs onto her wrists. It all happened in one second flat. But the girl lost her calm state and became vicious. The birch tree imitated her and struck out at the ninja. It sent them flying in all directions, giving the girl a chance to scramble to her feet and start running.

She went deeper and deeper into the forest with the ninja all chasing her, throwing kunai and shuriken every other second. She managed to dodge most of them, albeit gaining scratches and cuts on her arms and legs.

But one shuriken caught on the skirt of her dress and she was pulled to the ground. She landed hard on her right shoulder – her hands still cuffed behind her back – and cried out in pain. The tree nearest to her stretched out a branch and hooked it under her arm, helping her up. She continued running.

The ninja were still chasing her. And one ninja shouted "Fire style! Fireball jutsu!" and a fireball hit her square in the back and sent her sprawling.

Her breath left her and she tried to scramble away. Her eyes were wide with dear as she looked at the burning grass near her. She sat up against a tree and squeezed her eyes shut.

The fire-style ninja grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet. But she was dead weight.

"What a pain." He muttered. "Here, Tenzo, carry her."

"What?" the ninja called Tenzo cried. "Why me?"

"Because I'm the leader and I said so."

So Tenzo walked over and took the girl. He slung her over his shoulder and the group disappeared.

**A/N: I just realised how much I love ending thing with "and then she/he/they disappeared." It makes good suspense. I think.**

**So that's the first chapter for you all, please be sure to read the other books in the series, aaaaaaaaaaaand… that's it, I think.**

**Luv you all! Peace out!**


	2. Chapter 2

The girl was sitting in the interrogation room. The chief interrogator, who had introduced himself as Ibiki, was sitting across the small, square table from her, annoyed. The girl was staring at the ceiling, twiddling her thumbs in her lap. Her cuts had been healed and the burns on her back were covered with bandages. Her dress was gone and she was now wearing black tracksuit pants and s grey jumper.

"Okay," Ibiki growled, "who are you?"

"I am me." The girl answered. Her voice had returned to its original bell-like sound, high and dreamy.

Ibiki ground his teeth. "What's your name?"

"My name is Skye."

Ibiki snorted. "Skye." He repeated. "What kind of a name is that?"

Skye looked directly at him. "The one I chose." She said simply.

"Chose?"

"Well, I wasn't given one so I had to choose one."

"Who are your parents?"

"No clue." Skye didn't seem upset by this at all. On the contrary, she seemed quite happy at the thought of having no parents. She started humming quietly to herself. Ibiki, now even more annoyed, slammed his fist on the table.

"Okay," he said again, loudly and clearly, "who are you?"

"I do hate repeating myself." Skye hummed.

"Let me rephrase that then." Ibiki took a deep breath. "_What_ are you?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific." Skye continued to hum, which increasingly got on Ibiki's nerves. He ground his teeth, trying with all his might to stay calm.

"What can you do?" he growled. "As in, what are your abilities?"

"I can do all sorts of things." Skye replied. "Is there anything in particular that you would like to know about?"

"The mission report said something about trees."

Skye stopped humming. "Ah, yes." She looked at a small potted tree in the corner of the room. "I can talk to them."

Ibiki was silent. He blinked, before roaring with laughter. Skye ignored him, starting to hum again. She was still twiddling her thumbs.

Ibiki stopped laughing after a moment. "So you're saying you can talk to trees?" he asked. "That's crazy."

Skye gave him a sweet smile. "I knew it."

Ibiki's smile faded. "Knew what?"

"I knew that you are, obviously, not unintelligent but –"

"But what?" Ibiki demanded.

"You are painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded."

"Excuse me?"

Skye looked into his eyes. "You, being you, think you have come across it all. You think you know all the secrets, being an interrogator." She smiled again. "But I'd say you've only seen about four percent of what's out there."

Ibiki's face began turning red. "Now listen here, I don't want any smart comments from you –"

"Or what?" Skye interrupted. Her voice had once again lost its dreamy tone and was now deadly serious. It was lower than usual and was quiet and dangerous. "You'll yell at me? Torture me? Well, I've got nothing to say to you." She stood up. "We're done.

Ibiki stood up after her. "Fine." He nodded to a man standing quietly in the corner, before storming out. Skye smiled sweetly to the other man, whose face turned red. He hurried over to the door and held it open for her.

"Uh, this way please." He stammered, gesturing out of the door.

Skye smiled again. "Thank you." She said kindly, her voice losing all trace of seriousness.

**A/N: I'm not exactly sure if this is how interrogations work in Konoha, so correct me if I'm wrong pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease ^-^ I want my stories to be the best they can be ^-^**

**Well, thanks for reading! Peace out dudes!**


	3. Chapter 3

An Anbu Black Op ninja burst into the Hokage's office in the early hours of the next morning.

"Lord Hokage, sir!" He cried.

"What is it?" asked the Hokage sharply.

"It's that girl, Skye!" the ninja explained quickly. "She's gone!"

The Hokage, who had been sitting in a chair behind his desk, stood up, knocking his chair over. "What?" he said, taking his freshly lit pipe out of his mouth.

"We don't know when or how she got out! When someone went in to give her breakfast, the window was wide open and her nowhere to be found!"

"Have you searched the village?"

"We are doing that as we speak, sir."

But they never found her. She had snuck out and gone back to her quiet, nomadic ways. It wasn't until a long six years later, when Skye was left alone and forgotten, that they found her again.

**A/N: Shoot, I just realised how short this chapter is. In my notebook, it was WAY longer. Hm, maybe it's just my writing. Meh.**

**Anyways, thanks for bearing with me so far, everyone! Peace out!**

**Oh, yeah, and I' better update the list of Ninja Way books, hadn't I? Well, here they are:**

**By moi, MorllyberNo.1:**

**~The Blue Spiral**

**~The New Girl**

**~Have Faith**

**~Forest's Heart**

**Aaaaaaaand**

**~Hoping for a Better Day (Yay! Another one! ^-^)**

**By Gaara's Babe:**

**~To Kill An Uchiha**

**~The Demon Doll**

**Aaaaaaaand**

**~Fighting the Elements**

**So, that's all of em! Peace out!**


	4. Chapter 4

A group of five stood at the gate of the Hidden Leaf, ready to go on a mission. This group consisted of Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Kakashi and Yamato. They stood watching as a group of Anbu Black Ops brought in a young lady. She was wearing a long-sleeved light grey dress. Her chocolate brown hair was in a messy bob cut that sat just under her ears. It grew shorter at the back, like a pixie cut.

"Hey," Yamato muttered to Kakashi. "Who's that girl?"

Kakashi blinked. "Well, I've seen her file. She was brought in a while back and she only gave us one name: Skye."

Skye's eyes flickered over to the group. She searched them all before her eyes rested on Yamato. Her eyes showed a faint trace of recognition before a ninja shoved her shoulder and she had to look away.

"I think I recognise her." Yamato mumbled.

"Well, you should." Kakashi replied. "You were a part of the Anbu Black Ops group that brought her in six years ago."

Yamato stared at Skye, and he could have sworn that she gave a small, fleeting smile. But when he looked again it was gone.

Sakura, who had been listening in, asked, "But why?" Kakashi looked at her. "What did she do?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! Why bring her in if she didn't do anything?"

"Because she didn't do nothing." Kakashi answered. "Six years ago she was brought in for stealing from the Leaf. She's clever, she didn't leave a trace." He sighed. "But this time it's slightly different. She, well, reconstructed a forest a while away."

Everyone turned to Kakashi. "Reconstructed a forest?" They said in unison.

"Yep." Kakashi sighed again. "Twisted branches and she was caught doing it."

Yamato looked back at Skye. He looked at her frail figure, olive skinned and thin.

"She doesn't look like she could do something like that." Sai commented.

Naruto laughed. "Don't judge her so quickly, Sai. I mean, look at Sakura!"

At that, Sakura's face began to turn read and she punched Naruto on the top of the head. "That supposed to mean something?" she growled.

Naruto managed a weak "N-no, Sakura," with an expression on his face that suggested he'd run headlong into a brick wall. Sai observed the pair with interest.

Yamato was deep in thought. "How is that possible?" He wondered aloud. "It sounds like wood style jutsu."

"We don't know much about it." Kakashi answered. "But when she was here last, she told Ibiki that she could, uh, '_talk_' to trees/"

"Talk to trees?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Hey, don't ask me. She said it, not me." He then managed to divert everyone's attention by saying that they should go on their mission and forget about Skye. Which worked, of course.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, we meet again." Ibiki snarled. They were once again sitting in that same room, across the same old, square table. Even the potted tree in the corner was still there, albeit bigger.

"So it would seem." Skye answered calmly. Six years had passed, but her voice had not lost that dreamy, bell-like sound.

"Still insisting that you can talk to trees?"

"Insisting?" Sky tilted her head. "I'm not insisting anything if you're not willing to believe it."

"Good." Ibiki grinned. "Because I don't believe you."

"Okay, then."

"What were you doing in the forest outside the village?"

"That was my temporary living situation."

"Say what?"

"I was going to sleep there for the night before your Anbu Black Ops attacked me."

"And the trees?"

"What about them?"

Ibiki sighed. This girl was continuously getting annoying. "They were twisted up."

"I was attacked by Leaf ninja." Skye repeated. "The trees were protecting me. It's just what they do for me."

Ibiki laughed. "That's crazy.

Skye closed her eyes and allowed herself a small smile before looking at the potted tree in the corner. "I see you are still close-minded." She said softy. "It's quite sad, actually."

"What's sad?"

"It's sad how people can be so limited, like they've only got one mindset. It's extraordinary how people can create new things, but half the time they're not original ideas. If only people could open their minds -" her eyes sparkled with mystery, "- to the possibilities."

All of a sudden the tree in the corner grew. Its branches stretched out and twirled around themselves as if it were dancing. Then they flung themselves at Ibiki and stopped an inch from where his face was. He yelled out and fell backwards off his chair. All at once, the tree returned to its original position.

Ibiki hoisted himself up using the table. "What the hell was that?" He roared at Skye. But Skye simply smiled, her eyes in a faraway place.


	6. Chapter 6

Night soon fell. Skye was being kept in a high-security room. But apparently high-security wasn't security enough.

She had just gotten into the forests outside the Leaf when they found her. She obviously knew the Anbu's were there but she kept running, jumping up into a tree and launching herself from branch to branch.

The ninja noticed that as she jumped off a branch, the branch seemed to assist her, throwing themselves forward a little to allow her to jump further and higher. The ninja also noticed that the trees shifted their branches as they landed, causing them to stumble slightly and fall behind. But Skye never slowed down, and never once looked back.

"Water style! Raging waves!" Shouted one of the ninja, making extraordinarily fast hand signs. From his mouth came, indeed, a raging wave, rushing its way towards Skye. But Skye grabbed hold of a branch and flipped her way up, away from the waves. But a ninja was waiting to meet her, and tightly wound rope around her wrists and did a complicated knot in a matter of two seconds. He forced her to her knees but before he had time to think, a branch had struck him in the stomach and he went flying back. He slammed into a tree trunk and fell down, landing in a crouch. His hand went to his stomach and when it came away, it was stained with dark liquid.

Skye looked around at the three remaining ninja who surrounded her. She eyed them warily, studying the masks carefully. She only showed a slight trace of fear at the thought of possible being killed by these ninja. She was certainly stronger than she was six years previously.

"You do realise," she said, her voice low and dangerous, "that I have no intention of being kept prisoner by you."

The ninja were silent. Then, without warning, they attacked. They all lunged to where Skye was. But Skye stepped forward off the branch and hooked her knees around the branch, like a gymnast. She swung backwards, unhooked her knees and fell. She landed in a crouch on another branch and started running again. She was as fast and even more agile as the average ninja – that was for sure. Whenever the Anbu Black Ops go too close, the trees would help her, stretching their branches this was and that, making distance between the ninja and her.

The chase was dragging on and on. The moon was now high in the sky, with no advantage on either side.

* * *

**A/N: Wow. I should really try and write longer chapters, huh? Ah well. I swear my long-chapter writing abilities will get better. I'm still an author-in-training, so bear with me for a bit, kay? Kay, thanks!**

**And just so ya'll know, I'm an Aussie, so things like 'realise' ARE spelt with a S, not a Z, in moi country. I also use the word 'spelt', which is currently coming up with a red squiggly line. I just thought I'd put that out there, in case some people are thinking, "Wow! She is a _terrible_ speller!"**

**Well, that's pretty much all I have to say right now. Love you all, peace out!**


	7. Chapter 7

Kakashi woke with a start. He reached for a kunai, looking around the clearing with the eye of a trained Anbu Black Op.

"Yamato," he nudged the sleeping man, "get up."

Yamato grumbled and rubbed his eye. He opened his mouth to complain, but when he saw Kakashi eying the surrounding forest he understood the situation immediately and moved off to wake the others.

Soon they were all awake and alert, weapons in hands, looking and listening for any sign of disturbance.

There was a rustle in the trees above them and they all looked up. They saw a flash of grey, and four Anbu Black Op ninja chasing after it. One of them dropped out of the trees and stood in front of Kakashi.

"What's happening?" Kakashi asked urgently.

"Skye escaped and we were sent after her." The ninja explained quickly.

"How can one girl escape the village without anyone noticing?" Yamato inquired.

"She's fast, quiet and careful."

"And she's evaded you this whole time?"

"I'm afraid so."

"How?"

"The trees..." the man searched for words, "they seem to be helping her. They help her escape and slow us down."

"How is that possible?" Sakura said, in barely more than a whisper.

"We don't know."

"She claimed that she could talk to trees, right?" Kakashi narrowed his eye. "What if that's actually true?"

At that moment there was an explosion. Everybody looked up. There was billowing smoke coming through the trees. The Anbu ninja disappeared and the squad followed.

When they got there Skye was standing in the middle of a huge ring of fire. She was whirling around, looking for a way out. But there was none.

Now there was real fear in her eyes. The fire reflected off her chocolate-brown eyes and she tried to look away, only to look at more fire. But she was just as afraid to close her eyes. She couldn't jump, and this time the trees couldn't come to her aid.

She was trapped.

* * *

**A/N: I swear these chapters are getting shorter and shorter...**

**Well, thanks for putting up with me this far ^-^ This story is by far not my best. So, put up with me and maybe I'll go back and edit it someday!**

**Well, peace out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Well. This is the longest chapter I've written in a while. Takes up a whole... *counts* nearly five pages of me notebook! Took me long enough, too. I had no inspiration for this story whatsoever for the past... however long. BUT! Here it is, guys! So pwetty pwetty pwease enjoy and review! Peace out!**

Skye was afraid. There was fire all around her. She didn't try to ask the trees, they'd get burned. There was no way she could escape uninjured.

Uninjured. Uninjured. It was either get burned and possibly escape, get burned and get caught, or just give up.

She ran for the most open area and jumped. She flew over the flames. But the flames greedily snatched at her dress, setting it on fire. It burned the side of her leg and her would-be-safe landing failed. She landed on her burnt led and she cried out, falling to one knee. But, hearing the advancing ninja, she scrambled to her feet. Blinking back tears, she jumped into the trees.

Jumping from branch to branch, she tried to keep most of her weight off her burned leg, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. The ropes around her wrists were badly burned and she broke them off, dropping them on a branch.

She had ducked behind a tree trunk in hope of a few seconds' rest when she heard someone behind her say, "Wood style!" and a pillar of wood broke out of a tree truck and lashed out at her. Her eyes widened in shock and she flung herself out of the way.

It was déjà vu again. The ninja surrounded her as she lay on the branch, shaking. But the only thing on Skye's mind was him.

She stared at Yamato, and he stared back. His eyes screamed, "Who are you?!" but Skye couldn't answer that herself.

She never could.

**o0o0o**

_She woke to screaming. She scrambled out of bed and landed with a thud on the wood floor. her husband ran past her and out of the room. She was frozen, rooted to the spot. Her husband appeared at the door again, his face filled with shock, terror and fear._

_"F... fire..." he panted, paling as he spoke. "Lyra, the entire forest's on fire!"_

_her mind snapped into place. Her legs began to run. But she wasn't thinking of herself escaping. Oh no, her mind was focused on one thing only, and that wasn't herself._

_Her daughter, she had to get her daughter out._

_She ran to her daughter's room. The child was wailing. Lyra picked her up and rocked her in her arms._

_"Shh," she said softly. "Hush now, you'll be fine." As she talked, she walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a dress. It was simple yer beautiful: long-sleeved and light grey,a very fine material. It went beautifully with the child's olive skin and chocolate-brown hair and eyes. She wrapped her daughter in the cloth, and her crying died down slightly._

_Lyra stared into the child's eyes, and she herself began to cry._

_"My daughter," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I love you."_

_her husband, who had followed her into the room, said: "Lyra. We're the last ones." He was crying, too. "We couldn't stop the fire." The fire glowed outside the window. "It's too much. It's completely surrounding us." It creeped up the walls. "We need to use it to save her."_

_Lyra nodded and lowered her child onto the ground. She stroked her face. "I'm so sorry, darling. But to save you, we have to use this spell."_

_"We will always love you," her father added, wiping his eyes. "We will always be in your heart, my dear."_

_Lyra stood up and raised her arms. Her husband mirrored her. They began to speak in a different language. As they did, a sheen spread over the child's body, who watched her parents curiously and intently. The familiar faces, the kind voices._

_Then they slipped away, and the two people standing over her were strangers. She had no memory of ever seeing them before, or being in that room._

_As fire began creeping into the room, the two people slumped to the ground and did not move again. And as the flickering flames crept over their bodies, only a single thing remained in her heart. A single word that spelt out her identity. A word that saved her from being burnt to ashes along with the other two people in the room._

_Skye._

**o0o0o**

Skye slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. She gritted her teeth in pain. She spared one more glance for Yamato before swinging her legs over the side of the branch and pushing herself off. She dropped to the branch below and her burnt leg crumpled beneath her. She have a short cry of pain before pushing herself to her feet and launching herself off the branch. A kunai whizzed by her cheek, drawing blood. Her hand went up to the wound in surprise, but she didn't slow down.

"Wood style!" Came Yamato's voice again. This time, Skye didn't have time to move before a pillar of wood slammed into her, taking the breath out of her lungs, and she slammed into a tree. Her unconscious body fell down through the branches. Yamato swooped underneath her and caught her before she crashed into the tree branch directly below her.

"Captain Yamato?" Sakura's voice sounded from behind him.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. "It seemed like she really knew you."

Yamato stood up, Skye in his arms. "I'm going with the Anbu to take her back to the village," he said blankly. "You four go on the mission without me."

Kakashi nodded and turned to the squad. "Well, gang, I think it's time we went back and got some sleep." Sai nodded, Naruto yawned and Sakura cast a worried look at Skye.

"If you're sure," she said, her voice uncertain. Yamato nodded and turned to the Anbu squad.

"Let's go," he said shortly. The Anbu nodded and they jumped through the trees in the direction of the Hidden Leaf village. Team Kakashi returned to the clearing where they woke up and quickly fell asleep, guarded by the crescent moon.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, guys. MorllyberNo.1 is BACK with more foresty awesomeness. I AM FINALLY UP TO THE PART WHERE THEY ALL COMBINE! XD YAY YAY YAY me so happy! ^-^**

**So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will update Have Faith and The Blue Spiral (Merry Christmas, Georgia-san) ASAP but for now, enjoy this chapter and be patient. Paaaaaaatieeeeeeeeennntt. Patience is a virtue. Can't say that it's one of my most important virtues, though.**

**Well, peace out!**

* * *

When Skye awoke, birds were chirping outside the window. She moaned slightly as the pain in her back returned. She blinked, clearing her vision. She took in her surroundings and made simple truth to the following:

1\. She was sitting in a chair.

2\. Her hands and feet were tied.

3\. _He_ was leaning against the doorframe, watching her intently.

"You'e kidding me, right?" she said coldly.

"Not a chance," Yamato replied. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Skye shot back.

"My name is Yamato, I am a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf," Yamato replied automatically.

"How do you manipulate trees?" Skye inquired.

"Wood Style jutsu," Yamato answered. Then he shook his head. "How did you do that?" he demanded.

"I'm multi-talented," she tilted her head.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It can mean whatever you want."

"Enough," Yamato said firmly. "How do you know wood style jutsu?"

"I don't," Skye replied. "I don't know any kind of jutsu. I am not a Shinobi in any way."

"Then how did you escape the Anbu?"

"I ran, with the trees helping me every step of the way."

"What do you mean by that?" Yamato asked cautiously.

Skye sighed. "I don't see why I bother. Nobody believes me anyway," she muttered, more to herself than to Yamato.

"Just tell me."

"I can talk to trees," Skye finally said. "I always have been able to. I ask them to help me, and they do."

Yamato was silent for a minute. "I've never heard of-" he cut off as he eyed the door. A second later he slammed it open and was looking down the hall. "Why are you here?" he demanded of someone.

A female voice answered. "I was told that you'd returned, and Tsunade asked me to tell you something." She came into view as she talked, and Skye carefully studied her. White-blonde hair, light brown eyes and a long scar running from just above her right eye down her face and neck, ending on her collarbone. It just twisted the corner of her mouth down. Her voice sounded urgent.

"What is it?" Yamato asked quickly. The woman shook her head, as if she was in denial of something.

"Kaze's missing," she said after a few seconds. "She's gone."

"Wait, what?" Yamato's voice was incredulous. "As in, Kaze Hatake? The Kaze who's been in a coma Kaze?"

"Do I look like I know any other Kazes'?" the woman asked coldly, sarcastically. But there was something in her voice that Skye liked. Something that showed she really cared. Skye immediately decided that she liked this woman, or at the very least respected her.

"How?" Yamato demanded. The woman shook her head again, indicating that she didn't know. "When?"

"In the last hour, probably," the woman answered. Then she caught sight of Skye, and eyed her suspiciously. "Who is that?" she asked.

"Skye," Yamato looked over his shoulder at her. "The reason I came back without Kakashi and the others."

As the woman looked at Skye, a sense of realisation came over her, filling her eyes. Sky could see it easily. "Kakashi," the woman murmured. "Of course."

"Faith?" Yamato inquired.

"Kaze wasn't taken forcefully. There were no signs of struggle in the hospital room," Faith said quietly. "Which means she must have woken up. And if she left without telling anyone, she must have-"

"-gone straight to Kakashi," Yamato finished. "She must have known something was wrong."

"We need to find them," Faith said. "Now."

"We have no way of tracking her," Yamato told her, annoyed.

Skye spoke up. "I can," she said lightly, her bell-like voice getting their attention. "All I need is a description of her and the trees can tell me which way she went."

"No," Yamato said immediately. "There is no way I am trusting you with something as important as-"

"Wait," Faith interjected. She walked up to Skye and bobbed down so that they were at eye level. She obviously had no sight in her right eye, but her left stared hard at Skye. Skye stared back, unwilling to look away. After a minute that seemed like an hour, Faith unsheathed a dagger at her waist. Skye tensed, but Faith cut through the ropes binding her feet and hands. Before Skye could do so much as blink in surprise, the knife tip was at her throat. "You lead us in the wrong direction," Faith growled, "and I will kill you." Her scar seemed scarier than usual.

A bead of sweat rolled down Skye's forehead when the tip of the knife touched her skin. But she nodded and the dagger was put away. Maybe, just maybe, Skye was trustworthy after all.


End file.
